First Baptist Church, Sylacauga
When the rich young ruler came to Jesus asking how to be saved, Jesus told him to sell all his possessions and give to the poor. He went away sad. Jesus said it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Coming to Jesus sounds hard.
Jesus also said if anyone came to Him and did not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters and even his life, he could not be a disciple. He taught us to take up our cross and be willing to die for our faith. Again coming to Jesus sounds hard.
On the other hand, the profession of faith uttered by the thief on the cross was brief and simple. He asked Jesus to remember him when He came into His kingdom. Then Jesus assured the man he would be with Him in paradise. Coming to Jesus sounds easy.
The Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas what he had to do to be saved. They told him to believe in the Lord Jesus and he would be saved, just like his entire family, as they too believed.
Again coming to Jesus sounds easy.
So which one is it? In the famous words of Forrest Gump, “Maybe it’s both.”
Ministers explain the process of coming to Christ in a variety of ways. Since it is a matter of the heart, even a trusting child capable of understanding the basic story of the gospel is able to place his or her faith in Christ and be saved.
But the implications of our faith in Christ and the demands He makes upon our lives are profound enough to challenge even the most mature Christians until the day Jesus calls us home to heaven.
The Bible tells us we must confess with our mouths Jesus as Lord. It is a very simple thing to confess our sin and say we turn away from it and toward Christ.
But the Bible also says we must believe in our hearts God raised Him from the dead. Our verbal confession is no magic soul-saving spell when someone’s heart is not in it but is given instead to the things of this world.
Confess. Believe. You can be saved today.
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